Improvement in paper-cutting machines



`WILLIAM a. 'roe-HAM, or- NEW velan, in

Letters Patent No. 111,702, dated February 7, 1871 g antedated February 1l, 1871.

IMPROVEMENT IN kPAPER-CUTTING MACHINES.

The' Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom. fit may concern:

Be it known-that I, WILLIAM H.I0PHAM, of the city, county, and State of New-York, have made cer'- tain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Trimming the Edges of various articles made of Faper or other material; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings making part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view; Figure 2, a side elevation; Figure 3, alongitndinal vertical section; and Figure 4, a cross-vertical section at thtfline A a. of

g. 3. The same letters of reference indicate like parts in each of the figures.

In theannexed drawingsa. represents a suitable frame for supporting the working parts of the machine. In the upper part of this frame there aretwo-horiz'ontal shafts, b c, placed directly over each other, and

having their bearings in boxes d c in the standardsv of the frame.

The lower shaft o carries a fast-and-loose pulley, f g, to .theformer of which any suitable power can be applied by means of a belt to operate the machine; and this shaft also carries a cog-wheel, h, which en gages another cog-wheel, a', of equal diameter, on the upper shaft b, thusn causing the two shafts to turn in opposite directions and with equal velocity.

'lo the forward end of each of these shafts there is attached, in any suitable manner, a circular cutter, j k,

'made of steel, to operate upon the desired article to `be trimmed or cut; and for the purpose of alwaysinsnring the contact of these cutters, the rear end of the shaft bis provided with a set-screw, l, by means of which the cutterj is kept'closely pressed against the lower cutter k.

The lower shaft c, at its rear end outside the frame, is provided with a wide gear-Wheel, m, theinner face of which is formed with or provided with a ilange, fn,-

of somewhat larger diameter, for a purpose to be presently described.

The standards of the frame a are made with openings or spaces,A o, ofisuficient width to permita frame, p, to slide freely vback and forth longitudinally on V-shaped guides, which fit into corresponding grooves in the said standards of the frame, as shown clearlyin tig. 4.-

This sliding frame p, nearits upper part, carries a:

horizontal shaftq, in suitable bearings; and to the' rear end of this shaft is loosely tted a cog-wheel, lr', which engages the wide gear-wheelm before described.

On' this shaft q there is secured permanentlya beveled friction-clutch, s, which fits iu a corresponding 'ecess made in the hub-of the cog-wheel lr, -and which, when the .machine is in operation, constantly engages the said cog-wheel by means of a spring, t, interposed between the bog-wheel and a collar, u, on the shaft, and thereby gives motion to the vertical shaft (to be presently described) which carries the chuck on which the article to becut or trimmed is to be placed.

The tension of the spring t which forces the cogwheel lrirmly against the clutch `s can be regulated by the set-screw o in the collar Theforward end of the sliding frame p projectsa short distance in front'of the frame .(t, and carries a vertical shaft,'w. rlhis shaft is movable up and down .in its bearings, and at its upper end there is attached afchuclnx, of any suitable form, and on which is .to

be placed the article to be cut or trimmed.

To the lower end of this movable shaft is secured a pattern or former, y, of a form corresponding with that which the article to be trimmed is lintended te assume.

lMotion is given to the movable shaft which carries the pattern and the article to be trimmed, by means of a bevel-gear wheel, c', on the forward end of the horizontal shaft q, which engages another 'bevel-wheel, d', on the movable shaft. This shaft is made to slide up and ldown*v through the bevel-wheel d', and is provided with a feather to transmit motion from the pinion to the shaft. vThe object of this slidingmotion of the shaft w is that the point of the article -to be cut or trimmed will alwaysbe presented on a horizontal plane with-the cutting point of the cutters. AIn trimming an article like a hat-brim, where there is an up* ward curve aswell as anoblong, if this shaft was stationary and not capable of adapting itself to the peculiar form of curve, some parts of the brim would be above the cutting point and some below; but thel shaft .of a spring, a', one end of which is secured to the sliding frame p and the other end to the frame a.

i rlhis guide-plate z is provided with a sten1,b',wh ich passes through a hole in the forward standard o f the frame a and it can be placed at a greater or lesser distance from the main-frame to suit different-size patterns, and is secured in itsproper position relative to the pattern in use by means of a serewftllreul' and nut on therear end of its stem.

'When 'the cutters are in4 operation, the .chuck is brought np as close to them as possible in order to give that part of the article to be trirmned,say the rim of a hat, ,the requisite support for the proper action of the cutters. But when it is .necessary either to place the article on the chuck to be trimmed orto remove it after being trimmed, the chuck is to be,

moved away from the cutters, and its motion ceases to facilitate these operations. v

This result is produced by means of a treadle, e', turning on a stud-pini attached to the forward standard ofthe mainframe, and connected by a rod, j", with one arm of a lever, g', which has its fulcrum inl a bar, h', attached to the main frame, the other arm of the said lever having a rod, i', attached to it, which passes through a hole in a plate, j', secured to the bottom of the sliding .frame 11, and provided at its rear end with a collar or nut, it. n It will be seen from the above varrangement that when the treadle c is pressed down'by the foot of the attendant, the collar kisforced against the plate j', which is secured to the bottom of the sliding frame p, thereby carrying'n forward the said frame, the chuck, and all the other working parts connected with it; and this forward motion of the sliding frame 1') brings the innen face of the cog-wheel o' in contact with the flangea on the wide gear-wheelm; and the pressure against the said dangc, produced by the continued downward motion of the treadle, disengages the said cog-wheel frfrom the beveled friction-clutch s, so that it can revolve freely on its shaft without transmitting motion to the vertically-sliding shaft which carries the chuck andform'er or pattern.

After the article to be trimmed has been properly placed upon the chuck, the treadle is relieved from the pressure upon it, and is brought to its propel' elevated position by means of a spring, l', one eud of which is secured to one armof the lever g', and the other end to the main frame the sliding frame p, with all its working parts, is drawn back by means of the spring a' until the pattern or former is brought againstl the guide-plate z the cog-wheel 47' is forced to engage the beveled clutch s by means of the spring t; and the machineis then ready for operation.'v

The pattern or former on the lower end ot' the vertical shaft w must in all cases (other than when a true circle is required to be cut) correspond with the shape it is designed to trim the article on the chuck; and as it is kept in constant contact with the guide-plate z by the spring d', and it is attached to the verticallysliding shaft which also carries the chuck and article to be trimmed, and the shaft is supported in the sliding frame p, it follows that the sliding fia'mc will have a motion forward and backward in unison with the peculiar ,form of pattern used, and thus-the rotarylcutters will trim the article on the chuck to the exact shape of the pattern.

If it should be. desired to cut .or trim au article to a circular form, a pattern will not be required; it will simply be necessary to stop the backward motion of the sliding frame at such a point as will give the required diameter to the article, and this can b e effected by a'pin or dog, or any simple mechanical device.

Havingfus fully described my invention, What I c aim as new, and desire to secure by- Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination of the rotary cutters with the ,sliding frame p and vertically-sliding shaft w which carries the chuck and former or pattern, as herein set forth.

2. The combination of the sliding frame p with the elutleh s, the gear-wheel r, and flange n, as herein set ort ' WM. H. TOPHAM. Vitnesses:

ANDREW J. DE LACY, T. B. BEECHER. 

